Washington (AFP) – The White House said Wednesday that the US military mission in Syria was “coming to a rapid end” but indicated no timetable for a withdrawal.
Days after Trump shocked aides and allies by declaring that the roughly 2,000 troops helping combat the Islamic State group would be coming home soon, the White House scotched talk of a precipitous withdrawal.
After a meeting Tuesday between Trump and his national security team, the White House said that the battle against the Islamic State group was almost over, but not quite.
“The military mission to eradicate ISIS in Syria is coming to a rapid end, with ISIS being almost completely destroyed.”
“The United States and our partners remain committed to eliminating the small ISIS presence in Syria that our forces have not already eradicated.”
Estimates about the number of jihadis remaining around the Syria-Iraq border range from a couple of hundred to the tens of thousands.
They are being fought by disparate groups of Kurdish and Syrian opposition fighters, with some US and coalition support.
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